Trump reported to meet with Jeff Miller about VA secretary

TRUMP REPORTED TO MEET WITH JEFF MILLER ABOUT VA SECRETARY, reports the Washington Examiner: “President Trump will meet this week with former House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller, a top contender to lead the Veterans Affairs agency, a senior White House official told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday.

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“The former Republican congressman from Florida has been discussed as a potential successor to ousted VA Secretary David Shulkin given his experience on the House panel and the likelihood that he would avoid major controversy during the Senate confirmation process.

“Miller served eight terms in Congress before retiring in 2017, three years after he took the lead on passing a $16 million VA reform bill out of the lower chamber. The bill was later signed into law by President Obama in 2014.”

— PENTAGON BEGINS PROBE OF RONNY JACKSON, adds The Wall Street Journal: “The Pentagon has begun an investigation into Navy Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson, who served as the personal physician for three presidents until misconduct allegations emerged last week, dooming his bid to become secretary of Veterans Affairs.

“The Defense Department’s Office of Inspector General is conducting the probe into allegations against Adm. Jackson and will decide afterward what further investigation or action should be taken, Pentagon spokesman Tom Crosson said in a statement.

“The Pentagon didn’t detail the specific allegations being reviewed or their source. Adm. Jackson was accused by Sen. Jon Tester (D., Mont.), the senior Democrat on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, of mistreating lower-ranking employees, drinking to excess on overseas trips, and handing out prescription drugs.”

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HAPPENING TODAY — NAVY AND MARINE LEADERS MEET THE PRESS: Navy Secretary Richard Spencer, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller are scheduled to provide a public update at the Pentagon.

And Richardson is set to provide remarks at the U.S. Naval Institute’s Annual Meeting at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The update comes as the GAO reports thousands of sailors are too often away from home for too long, writes The Virginian-Pilot.

WAR REPORT — WHITE HOUSE IGNORES EXECUTIVE ORDER ON REPORTING CIVILIAN CASUALTIES, reports The Washington Post: “The Trump administration has chosen to ignore an executive order that requires the White House to issue an annual report on the number of civilians and enemy fighters killed by American counterterrorism strikes.

“The mandate for the report, which was due May 1, was established by former president Barack Obama in 2016 as part of a broader effort to lift the veil of secrecy surrounding drone operations in places such as Yemen, Somalia and Libya. The White House has not formally rescinded the Obama-era executive order but has chosen not to comply with some aspects of it.”

— SLIGHT IRAQ DRAWDOWN EXPECTED, reports our colleague Wesley Morgan: The deactivation of a two-star U.S. military headquarters in Iraq Monday “will enable a slight reduction in personnel within the theater of operations,” a military spokesman told POLITICO. No such reductions in the force in Iraq have previously been announced or acknowledged, and a military news release about the deactivation had called it a “symbolic gesture.”

Still, the Defense Department maintains an unchanged “public approximate number” of 5,200 American military personnel in Iraq, according to Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon. The 5,200 number is thought to be an undercount of the real, unreported total of U.S. troops in the country.

When the Pentagon changed its reporting practices last year, it increased its acknowledged totals of troops in Afghanistan, Syria, and Somalia — but not Iraq.

“‘I don't know that that's been the message from this building, I would not subscribe to that,’ Mattis said when questioned by a reporter at a photo op with the Macedonian defense minister.

“‘We said last August NATO is going to hold the line, we knew there would be tough fighting going forward,’ he added.”

Army Spec. Gabriel Conde, 22, who the Pentagon announced Tuesday was killed in Afghanistan, served as part of the Pentagon's counterterrorism mission, reports The Washington Post.

And Afghanistan’s first female pilot is granted asylum in the U.S., reports the WSJ.

— A U.S.-BACKED SYRIAN FORCE RESUMES OFFENSIVE AGAINST ISIS, reports The Washington Post: “A U.S.-backed force in Syria announced Tuesday that it was resuming operations against the Islamic State after an earlier push stalled as fighters left for other battlefronts.

“The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-dominated alliance backed by the United States, has handed the Islamic State several defeats. The SDF in October ousted the extremist group from Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed caliphate. But the fight for the militants’ last stronghold, the oil-rich eastern province of Deir al-Zour, foundered this year when thousands of SDF fighters left to battle another foe — Turkey, which seized much of the Kurdish-dominated Afrin enclave in northern Syria.

“The suspension of the Deir al-Zour offensive in March allowed the Islamic State to embed across a swath of desert along Syria’s border with Iraq.”

How many bombs has the U.S.-led coalition dropped in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria over the past few years? Asks Defense News.

Meanwhile, an Iranian official says his country will respond to “Israeli aggression” after missile attacks in Syria that some have attributed to Israel, reports Reuters.

U.S. officials warn Israel is moving toward war with Iran, via NBC News.

Israel’s claims on Iran divide the U.S. and Europe on the merits of the Iran nuclear deal, writes The New York Times.

And here’s the Syrian airbase at the center of an Israel-Iran conflict, writes The Guardian.

SOUTH KOREA WANTS U.S. TROOPS TO STAY — TREATY OR NOT WITH NORTH, reports Reuters: “South Korea said on Wednesday the issue of U.S. troops stationed in the South is unrelated to any future peace treaty with North Korea and that American forces should stay even if such an agreement is signed.

“‘U.S. troops stationed in South Korea are an issue regarding the alliance between South Korea and the United States. It has nothing to do with signing peace treaties,’ said Kim Eui-kyeom, a spokesman for the presidential Blue House, citing President Moon Jae-in.”

A summary of a new report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies on the Korean civil-military balance is here. And the full report is here.

FOR YOUR RADAR — SOUTH KOREA, JAPAN AND CHINA LEADERS TO MEET ON NORTH KOREA, reports the AP: “Leaders of South Korea, Japan and China will meet next week for a summit expected to focus on North Korea’s nuclear program and other regional issues.

“The three Asian countries have been holding regular trilateral summits since late 2008. Next week’s summit, the seventh, comes amid a flurry of high-profile diplomatic contacts aimed at ridding North Korea of its nuclear weapons.”

Trump welcomes the suggestion that he get the Nobel Peace Prize over his efforts to denuclearize the Korean peninsula, via POLITICO’s Cristiano Lima.

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice offers Trump some advice: Leave the details of Kim negotiations “to people who understand all the nuances,” via POLITICO’s Quint Forgey.

And Dennis Rodman says he deserves some credit if the U.S.-North Korea summit happens, via The Washington Post.

TRUMP AGAIN TEASES A NEW ‘SPACE FORCE,’ writes Defense News: “President Donald Trump on Tuesday again hinted at the possibility of a new military service dedicated to space, saying discussions are already underway with defense officials.

“During a ceremony honoring the Army football team, Trump praised the players as representatives of ‘the five proud branches’ of the military: the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.

“And then Trump added, ‘We’re actually thinking of a sixth.’

“‘That would be the space force,’ the commander in chief said. ‘Does that make sense? We’re getting very big in space, both militarily and for other reasons. And we are seriously thinking of a space force.’”

“I am thrilled that the Space Corps idea is gaining traction at the White House,” Rogers said in a statement. “Russia and China are surpassing us in space capabilities and we need to dedicate a separate force solely with a space mission.”

INDUSTRY INTEL — LOCKHEED OPENS A NEW F-35 FACILITY, reports Defense News: “Lockheed Martin celebrated the formal opening of a new manufacturing facility in Pinellas Park, Florida yesterday to support the increasing F-35 production rate.

“The facility, which is expected to create more than 80 new jobs by mid-2019, will assemble canopies and bulkheads for the F-35 Lightning II fighter.”

“The IT Alliance for Public Sector requests in a letter to the Republican chairs and ranking Democrats of the House and Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittees, obtained by POLITICO, that they release the reports required by the fiscal 2018 omnibus spending package on the Pentagon’s plan to award a multi-billion-dollar contract for cloud computing.”

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About The Author

Greg Hellman is a defense reporter for POLITICO Pro. He is the author of the Morning Defense newsletter and covers Congress.

Prior to joining POLITICO, Greg worked as a national security analyst for the Government Accountability Office where he focused on defense and counter-ISIS policy. He also worked as a reporter for Bloomberg BNA and Inside Washington Publishers, where he covered worker-safety policy.

Greg grew up outside Milwaukee, Wis. He graduated from Boston University in 2008 and American University in 2013.